4. Day 11: Enlightenment Begins At Home

I believe my letting go practice is very much about letting go of my unwillingness to fully inhabit my joy. I am a naturally “upbeat’ person, laugh easily, enjoy the littlest of things (like brushing my teeth or the sound of my children chewing) but I recognize that I have such a deep sense of worry for the welfare of others that I am distracted from being fully aware of my own joy. It is perfect timing to find this beautiful book “Journeys With A Brother” by Bartholomew and the Dalai Lama. This is the story of a group of intrepid travelers who accompany Bartholomew (in Mary-Margaret Moore) to both Japan and a special ceremony with the Dalai Lama in a remote region of the Himalaya. I was especially delighted to find this passage on letting go:

“We have two unique opportunities, here [in Japan] and also in India, to awaken to that state of consciousness which you have been looking for, for so long. The intention here is to awaken you to the continuous flow of awareness that is always present, so when you are in the Himalaya, you will have relaxed into the present moment sufficiently to be able to LET GO INTO THE FULLNESS OF ENLIGHTENMENT.

You could know these things (irritation, boredom, reaction to heat, worries) are also God, if you will remember , on an ongoing basis to drop into the moment and allow yourself to feel the moment exactly as it is without thinking about it.

Father’s Day is always in the heart of the daughter.

You can spend your time:

hearing without judgment

seeing without judgment

being without judgment.

Allow yourself to experience the simplicity of what I call your natural being, your naturalness in the naturalness of the moment. The greatest obstacle to your enlightenment is the belief that you are not already enlightened.” — “Journeys With A Brother” by Bartholomew and the Dalai Lama

So it would seem letting go of unwillingness eases me into the present moment; helps me hear, see and be without judgment and to notice the Light (and joy and peace and love) is already HERE.

What is one thing you can let go of right now that will allow you to feel the Light that is already here?

**This day I let go of “Father’s Day”…….it came the day after graduation and a big party and my dear Daddy was actually WITH me and I still forgot the day. I totally let go of feeling bad and gave him his (unwrapped) present and a huge hug. It didn’t bother him a bit.